Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Republican and Democratic Charlie Browns are at it again. Election cycle after election cycle, the Republican and Democratic Lucy politicians of America promise to hold the football for Charlie Brown-- for sure, this time, instead of pulling the ball away at the last second so to make Charlie Brown fall on his butt as he tries to kick his field goal.

“Cut spending, lower taxes,” the Republican politicians say. And the Charlie Brown voters fall on their butts once again.

Restore our rights, get out of foreign wars,” the Democratic politicians say. And the Charlie Brown voters fall on their butts once again.

What makes anyone think that this year will be any different? If you keep on doing what you have always done, you'll keep on getting what you always got. And if you keep on voting for Republicrats who try to sound like Libertarians at election time, you'll keep on getting higher spending, higher taxes, more big brother, and more costly foreign wars affecting the lives of our nation's young and the nation's pocket book. Lots of sore butts out there.

Many people fall for the Lucy trap because of what is known as the “wasted vote” syndrome. It is thought that voting for the lessor of two evils is better than allowing the opposition party to take power.

But voting for the lessor of two evils is still evil and if evil takes power does it really matter if the evil manifests itself on the margin for more taxes, spending and regulation with a loss of our rights and the continuation of a destructive foreign policy, rather than on the margin for a loss of our rights, the continuation of a destructive foreign policy, and slightly less of “more taxes, more spending and regulation?”

Not a dollars worth of difference (in these inflationary times).

What many people don't realize is that politics is not a horse race. It is a protracted conflict in the battle of ideas and trends matter. One does not have to win to effect change.

If a person believes that the libertarian philosophy is the wave of the future then one should register that belief now by voting for Libertarian candidates in the coming election. The more votes Libertarians get, the sooner will a libertarian future be achieved.

And here in Illinois it is even more critical to do so, for to achieve “major party” status, the Libertarian Party needs to get 5% of the vote or more. If Lex Green, Libertarian candidate for Governor, gets over 5%, then the onerous ballot access requirements that have prevented the Libertarian Party in the past from becoming viable will no longer be operative, and Libertarians in subsequent elections can concentrate their efforts on the election rather than managing the multiple hurdles the major parties have placed to make it so difficult to get on the ballot.

So in this election, make the smart choice. Vote for who or what you truly believe in. And if the belief is freedom, don't waste your vote, vote Libertarian.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Neoconservatives and the war establishment are fond of using the term “collateral damage” when referring to the killing of innocent people as a result of the perpetual war in the Middle East. After the latest “event” in Afghanistan, General McChrystal’s profusely apologized for the deaths. That’s the extent of “accountability” for the war establishment.

On the domestic front, there is an ongoing war against the established power of the federal government. The fronts of this war have taken on many facets. Most are peaceful, without “collateral damage.”

There are the actions as exemplified by the tea party patriots, including protests and the petitioning for redress of grievances at various town hall meetings. All this has all been very peaceful, yet very vocal and the establishment is taking notice. Also occurring is the significant Petition for Redress from the We the People Foundation.

With the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, the voters have chosen a path, at least at the margin, of less government and have rejected government-meddling, corporate- protecting, budget-busting healthcare.

The ascendency of Congressman Ron Paul and his Campaign for Liberty exemplifies another aspect of the battle against tyrannical government. Dr. Paul has continuously, for the past 25 years or so, fought against expansive war in international affairs, the theft of natural rights guaranteed by the US Constitution through the war on drugs and the war on terror, and the assault on the taxpayers through profligate government spending with a piling of bankrupting debt, via its enabler, the Federal Reserve. Now Dr. Paul is a regular on most of the cable news/talk shows.

And much to the chagrin of the big-government Right, Ron Paul continues to make inroads especially influencing the young to remake the Republican Party into a party of liberty. His recent overwhelming win in the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) presidential preference poll, taking a full 31% of the vote versus 22% for Romney and 7% for Palin, indicates that the efforts of Ron Paul are paying off in this fight for freedom.

There have also been some important wins in federal court (possibly jury nullification decisions) concerning the laws for filing income tax returns and the aiding of the act of nonfiling including the victory of former IRS criminal investigator, turned freedom fighter, Joseph Banister.

Many states are passing nullification resolutions that proclaim the right to refuse to enforce laws passed by the federal government that they regard as unconstitutional.

On all these fronts, freedom fighters have used the libertarian constant, a peaceful means in achieving the end of big government tyranny, which is consistent with the Libertarian Party certification, “I oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals.”

Of course the million dollar question is, at what point does the use of government power that is inconsistent with the US Constitution and contrary to natural law, attacking the objective right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, become the use of force, and how individually directed should that defense against government force be.

Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence stated, “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

So the right to rebel tyrannical government is firmly enshrined in the American tradition. But how should this action proceed? And who decides?

It occurs to me that every man must look into the mirror and decide this ultimately personal decision. To be consistent with libertarian principles, a collective should never force a decision about rebellion on an individual.

War is the ultimate collectivist act. And so in a defensive rebellion for liberty, it must be individually determined to be consistent with the concept of liberty. And to reduce the possibility of collateral damage, notice must be given to parties associated with the enemy.

And so to the case of Joseph Stack, who recently flew his plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, who stated in a heartfelt letter explaining his actions, “Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well." Anyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with any federal bureaucrats or bureaucracies can sure empathize with the anguish Joseph Stack felt. An IRS ruling that changed Mr. Stack’s classification from an independent contractor to an employee eventually set events into motion that brought him to believe that the only act left in his being was a final act of desperation and revenge.

In Mr. Stack’s understandably anguished mind, he had no choice left. Tragically, in my opinion, the deep emotions he felt clouded what objective observers should conclude are hopeful signs that the American people are waking up and a new renaissance of freedom may be developing. Possibly those signs were coming too late as he felt that big government had already destroyed his life.

The result of Joseph Stack’s actions was one dead IRS agent. No notice was given. It is highly unlikely that the dead agent was the agent working on Stack’s case. And in this point of time, the reeducating of the populace to the tenets of individual freedom have not reached the point where it is an obvious fact to many government workers that they are working for an evil organization hellbent on absolute despotism.

So in all likelihood, Mr. Stack’s suicide assault brought on some collateral damage.

My hope is that all peaceful means to achieve the goal of liberty in our time be used up before violent defensive force is employed. And then, if necessary, the focus should be laser-beamed not to foot soldiers of tyranny, but to the architects.

Neoconservatives believe that the end justifies the means and that “collateral damage” killing is justified. Libertarians hold themselves to a far stricter moral construct. The means must be as moral as the end. And collateral damage is unacceptable.

About Me

Kenneth John has been the talk show host of "Freedom Rings" for over fifteen years now. He has been a libertarian activist and writer all of his adult life. You can view some of his writings at www.freedomrings.net. Kenneth is a graduate in economics from the University of Illinois. He is married to his lovely wife, Pam.
Favorite Congressman: Dr. Ron Paul
Favorite canoeing river: Flambeau River in Wisconsin
Favorite Founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams